Vox Meditantis

The Cup We Raise

Published by

Bob Lynn

on

| Reading time:

1–2 minutes
The Cup We Raise

In the grey republic of not-caring,
where everyone had everything
and wanted none of it,
I was the loudest silence in the room —
eyes glazed, hands folded,
watching revolutions cool in cups.

But there is this drink —
God, there is this drink —
dark as the hours before a reckoning,
bitter-bright as a promise kept,
and hot enough to burn the comfortable numb
clean out of me.

Coffee. Just coffee.
Except nothing is ever just anything.

I took one sip and heard myself speak.
I took another and heard you lean in.
By the third, we had a plan —
not a manifesto, not a flag,
just a table of people
who had finally decided
to be interested.

In the dystopia they built for us,
they handed out indifference like bread,
subsidised the shrug,
taxed the raised fist.
They said: you can have your comfort,
your numbness, your untroubled sleep —
just ask for nothing more.

I am asking for more.

I am filling every cup in this room
and standing on the table —
yes, this table, our table —
saying: taste this,
let it wake some small bright thing in you,
let it pull you forward
into the city we have not yet built
but can,
we absolutely can.

The utopia is not a place.
It is the moment we stop looking away.

Drink up.
We have work to do.

Bob Lynn | © 2026 Vox Meditantis. All rights reserved.

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6 responses to “The Cup We Raise”

  1. georgi.kisyov avatar
    georgi.kisyov

    This is electric. I love how you turn something as simple as coffee into a symbol of awakening and shared intention — “the loudest silence in the room” shifting into action is such a powerful image. The line about the utopia being the moment we stop looking away really lands. It feels like a call not just to feel, but to participate. ☕🔥

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Bob Lynn avatar
      Bob Lynn

      Georgi, it’s funny you call it electric – that’s exactly what it feels like when the numbness finally cracks. We spend so much time convincing ourselves the grey is comfortable, right until the moment someone breaks the quiet and we realise how desperate we all were to be loud.

      I wrote it because I know how easy it is to just sit there, staring at the rim of a cup and letting the world happen. But you’re absolutely right: it is about participation. We aren’t going to build anything if we stay seated. So, here’s to waking up, standing up, and pulling everyone else along with us. Pass the pot down the table.

      Liked by 2 people

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  2. J.K. Marlin avatar
    J.K. Marlin

    I just filled my cup and sat down to read this wonderful moment of waking. Thanks.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Bob Lynn avatar
      Bob Lynn

      I know the comfort of that chair. I spent a lifetime sinking into it, watching the world blur by, totally indifferent to the chill. But you have the cup now, and the heat changes things. Enjoy that first warm sip, but do not get too comfortable in the seat. Drink it down, feel the fire catch, and come find us. The real triumph begins the very second you decide to stand up.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. kwholley63 avatar
    kwholley63

    This was great and quite meaningful given the world of today. People need to drink up

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Bob Lynn avatar
      Bob Lynn

      Kevin, they absolutely do. It is too easy to let the world of today turn us into statues, watching the ash fall and calling it snow. I was frozen there once, perfectly content to feel nothing at all. But then comes the heat in the cup, the sudden sharp taste of caring. We cannot just sip in silence anymore. We have to pour it out, let the warmth spill into the cold hands beside us, and build a fire bright enough to burn the grey away. The thaw starts now.

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Feign the virtue thou dost seek, till it becometh thine own

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